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As part of the #SaveKidsLives campaign, Safe Kids Union County joined together with our community partners, including Fire Departments, Local Law Enforcement, Union County Health Department, Carolinas HealthCare System Union, and local officials to raise awareness and keep kids safe on the road. Together, we shared the Child Declaration to teach children about the importance of road safety and how to stay safe on our roads. 

Having that technical training changed my life. I know more about car seats and continue to learn every day. That knowledge makes me comfortable talking to parents about car sear safety, which is so important.

In April 2015, communities across the United States will celebrate Safe Kids Day, a day to celebrate kids, prevent injuries, and saves lives. With generous support from presenting sponsor Nationwide, as well as national sponsors Johnson & Johnson, Chevrolet, FedEx, Kidde and Tide, the Safe Kids Day campaign will raise awareness about the cause of child injury prevention – and raise the funds to support it.

In addition to our signature event in Los Angeles, Safe Kids Day will be celebrated with close to 200 events that will take place in communities across the country.

My experience as a coach leads me to believe that coach training and knowledge is not what it should be. What can we do to restore the trust in the relationship between coaches, parents and their kids? It is vital that we do so, because a kid's involvement in team sports is important as they grow up. 

My son, Murphy, is passionate about playing football. Along with that passion comes bumps, bruises, and a fair share of helmet clashing. The physical intensity and risk of injury rises each year as he ages, and his practice schedule is a grueling 6-8 hour-per-week regimen. Murphy managed to play relatively injury free until well into his third year in 2012.

Change every diaper. That’s my first piece of advice for one of my best friends, Muppus, who just had a healthy baby boy. (We call him Muppus because that was the name of his band in high school.) I’ve benefited from the advice of Muppus on so many extremely important things – like how to build the perfect fort — so I thought sharing all the things I learned as a parent of two boys might be a nice way to pay him back.

In May 2013, my eleven year-old son Giovanni was pitching for his little league baseball team in Staten Island, New York. It was the bottom of the fifth inning. He had already struck out two batters and the third batter, about a foot taller than my son, was on deck. Giovanni’s first pitch went right down the middle of the plate. The batter swung and hit, and the ball hit my son in the face.